Post navigation

Fall Goals

The past few weeks at work have been pretty hectic and crazy, but with pre-season starting up next week, I know it’s only about to get worse. For those of my readers who were/are athletes, you understand how crazy us athletic trainers get around pre-season time. And for the rest of you, well, I don’t even have words to describe it. Fall pre-season is pretty much equivalent to getting run over by a 10-ton truck… and then getting up and getting trampled by a heard of stampeding wildabeest.

This sums it up quite nicely. Thanks Simba!

Long story short, it’s exhausting. And with exhaustion often comes lethargy, lack of motivation, negative feelings, etc. So knowing that all of that is on the very close horizon, I’m going to take a cue from Kristi over at Sweetly Fit and set myself some goals. The last thing I want to happen this fall is for me to get so busy that I forget to take care of myself, so I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen by setting a few new goals. I’m a firm believer that goals shouldn’t be set just once a year (Hello, New Years!), but should be continuously re-evaluated, revamped, and they should always be evolving. So here are my goals for the next few months:

Read at least 1 book per month. And this is reading for pleasure, not reading research journals for work (although that will be done as well). Reading makes me happy, so even if I can just set aside 10-20 minutes per day, that’s some great, quiet ME time. Besides, I have a couple of book reviews on the horizon for you guys,and how can I do that if I don’t make time to actually read the books?

Squat 160 lbs for reps. My squats have been struggle city for the past couple of months due to a back issue I have been having, but I am determined to get to 160. I have been hovering at the 145-150 range for a while now, and I need to push past this roadblock in my training, or I might actually go a little crazy.

Write at least 2 blog posts per week. Throughout the summer I’ve been good with about 3 per week, but I know that that’s just not realistic every week, especially for the busy fall season. However, if I keep myself on a schedule, I know I can get two good posts for you guys per week on most weeks, and if there are a few that it just doesn’t happen, well, so be it.

Take (and pass) my CSCS exam! This has been a goal of mine for a while, but I finally have my sights set on a specific exam date: December 1st. Now that it’s public, I’m going to have to get my butt registered and get serious about studying!

I think that’s good for now. Having just a few specific goals will hopefully help to keep me centered and focused throughout this crazy hectic time. I’m pretty optimistic that I can accomplish all of them, and then you can all congratulate me when I’m a CSCS in December 🙂 In the meantime, don’t be surprised if I start going a little batty. Just knock some sense into me if my posts get a little too off track.

Do you set goals regularly? Do you find that it helps to keep you focused when things get a little crazy? Do you have a busy time of year at work/school or is it all pretty much the same for you?

THANK YOU!!! I feel like I’ve been stuck in such a rut, I have to keep reminding myself that it’s not the end of the world, and that I’m still making progress whether my numbers are going up or not! And thanks for the faith in my CSCS… I’m already nervous but can’t wait to take it!

As a fellow ATC, I think I am going to take a cue from this post and set some goals for my fall as well. Just needed a little motivation and reminder of how important setting goals can be. Good luck on the CSCS test. Got mine 2 yrs ago and has been a great addition to me as a professional.

Thank you Mitch! It can be so overwhelming and crazy around pre-season time, I think that having a few goals in mind will really help to keep me moving forward through all of the chaos! Great to hear you have found value in your CSCS, I’m really looking forward to completing it!

Thanks Meg! I’ll be sure to keep you posted on my reading list 🙂 And I’ll keep you posted on my squats! I actually had to push mine back this week…did them today (Tuesday instead of Monday), and it wasn’t a great lift but I made some good progress on my split squats, so I’m happy with that for now!

Good luck with your goals! Especially the CSCS exam! I’ve been having trouble with my back as well… what have you been doing to treat it? I’ve had to stop squatting for about 2 months because of it and i’m hoping to get started (light) again soon!

Thanks Kym! I’ve actually been adding in a ton more mid and upper back work, just trying to help myself to support and stabilize the bar for back squats. I’ve also been getting some very aggressive soft tissue treatment done, and it’s worked wonders! What part of your back is bothering you?

I am so excited you set your date! You will do amazingly well while sticking to your goals! I am SO happy you put in 1 book a month. For me, reading at night is the only thing that keeps me sane through stressful times.

Yayay I’m so excited too! Thanks for your support 🙂 The book a month thing is something I really want to FORCE myself to stick with. I need to make more down time for myself and that’s the perfect way to do so!